1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for data transmission/reception, and more particularly to a system and method for providing a streaming service in real time between terminals by using a wired/wireless communication channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, mobile terminals which users can carry, such as cellular phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), have become very popular. With the development of communication technology, it becomes possible for mobile terminals to provide supplementary functions such as a game function, an alarm function, and an MP3 player function using various images and sounds, in addition to the communication functions such as a voice communication function and a Short Message Service (SMS) function. Accordingly, a user of a mobile terminal can use various convenient services as well as the voice communication function.
Additionally, recently, mobile terminals that can use a streaming service through the server of a communication provider or contents provider have been released in the market, and a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) service is being provided through broadcasting stations to such mobile terminals capable of receiving the broadcasting service. At present, one independent mobile terminal supports a real-time streaming service for contents including both video and audio, as well as local media reproduction of the contents. Also, recent mobile terminals can use a Video On Demand (VOD) service and image communication, in addition to the DMB service, when the mobile terminals have been equipped with a predetermined module.
Furthermore, various mobile terminals equipped with a Bluetooth (hereinafter, “Bluetooth”) module for near field communication between different devices, such as between mobile terminals or between a mobile terminal and a headset, have been released in the market. The user of a mobile terminal equipped with a module for near field communication, as described above, can listen to MP3 music stored in the mobile terminal using a wireless headset for near field communication, or can communicate with the user of another mobile terminal for near field communication, within a very close distance. However, while it is possible to transmit the data of single-type media, such as an MP3 file or a voice communication, through a unidirectional logical channel, it is impossible to transmit a data stream including real-time video and audio data streaming.
One possible solution to overcome the above-mentioned problem is to implement a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layer of a packet switching form on a Bluetooth channel, and to secure a plurality of logical channels through an existing protocol, such as a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) or a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), for transmission of a video, so as to enable communication. However, such a method requires too high a cost and effort for implementation thereof, i.e., a streaming service for media data sharing between mobile terminals has a limitation in simultaneously transmitting video and audio data by means of conventional streaming algorithms due to the complexity of its structure. Actually, existing mobile terminals do not support a real-time streaming service function between mobile terminals through a wired/wireless communication channel, such as a Bluetooth channel, a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) channel, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) channel, etc.
As described above, the existing mobile terminal can be provided with a streaming service through the server of a communication provider or a content provider, and can be provided with a DMB service from a broadcasting station. In this case, especially, a streaming service provided through a communication provider requires a large expense, which puts a heavy burden on users of mobile terminals. Accordingly, there is an increasing demand for simultaneously transmitting video and audio data in real time between terminals, such as a streaming service provided between a server and a terminal, as described above.